Eczema

[ofonorow]

hello,
I hope you don't mind my emailing you. I need some adive about C. Last week i started taking several grams a day and i was noticing some positive effects. But then i started to get eczema. So I stopped altogether and it cleared up immediately.

I had a similar problem several years ago taking solgar multi vitamins when the eczema it produced became so bad i was hospitalised.. Can you possibly explain what on earth is going on?
thank you very much for your time.
M. L.

Firby, UK

[joiv]

My cousin may be experiencing the same. Upon starting supplementation with vitamins and megadosing vitamin C his eczema came back. He applied ascorbic acid topically (I told him he should rather use sodium ascorbate, but he wanted to try ascorbic acid) and it got even worse. I wonder if it was the acid, but I really don't know.

[ofonorow]

Today is the day for hazarding another guess.. (Maybe someone really knows?)

If we postulate that eczema is the RESULT of the body trying to detoxify itself, and thereby raising these toxins to the surface for expulsion, say through sweat, then we might understand why vitamins, especially vitamin C, appears to exacerbate the symptoms. Ascorbate would increase the detoxification process.

First, do you (anyone) have any links on eczema that you trust for us to review?

Can you think of any reason why the body in question might have toxins? Are they taking prescription drugs?

[ofonorow]

[trillian]

A few years ago for no reason that I could determine, I got eczema and it was absolutely
aweful, the itching was unbeleivable. I started taking evening primrose oil which was
recommended by DR Mercola at the time. I took 6 capsules a day and it went away
pretty quickly. Perhaps it was a 'spontaneous remission' I don't know.

At the time I was only taking a very minimal regular dose of vit C, maybe 1 gram
a day.

Once sometime later I started seeing the signs that it might be coming back and
I imediately took the evening primrose oil and it did not develop further.

[joiv]

Could you describe the eczema?

I have so far seen two persons trying ascorbate for eczema. The first got better (he hasn't yet started eating it - he just applies it topically), the other got worse. The first persons eczema was located on the hands. It was red, dry and flaky. The other ones was on the feet. His was red, flaky and wet. Both has the diagnose atopical eczema. I wonder if they have two different kinds of eczema.

[CPlus]

I have had atopic eczema all my life, and having tried vitamin C on the skin and orally in large doses, unfortunately I found no effect, good or bad. There are essentially two types of eczema: atopic eczema, often associated with asthma, that appears to be genetic and seems to run in families (my mother and my daughter have it), and eczema that is caused by the skin becoming sensitised to some irritant. Atopic eczema is hard to cure, being genetic. I have found that heat or cold affect it, but I've never found any underlying cause. The other form of eczema can be cured, by removing the irritant. As Owen pointed out, the irritant may come from inside when the body is trying to detox, but when the detox is over the skin should clear up. For an atopic eczema sufferer who is in otherwise reasonable health, taking supplements won't bring about any improvement because the skin is just 'like that', and that was my experience, until recently, when I started a combination of acupuncture and chinese herbs. I hoped it would work, but was very sceptical for the reasons given above. I have been amazed that many areas of skin have cleared up, notable those that appeared over the last decade or so, leaving me with the stubborn areas behind the knees and in the elbows still bad - but that was what I was born with. I'm still continuing with the treatment, so it is not over yet.

Jonathan

[ofonorow]

Per "colds and flu" post, research into vitamin D and UV/B wavelength lights revealed that these lights can relieve many skin conditions, including excema. I think it would be a worthwhile "experiment" for those suffering this condition to determine whether it can be relieved or eliminated by increasing the blood levels of vitamin D. Either from the 1000 to 4000 iu D3 form or from a good UV/B lamp, or both. See this article for information and caveats re: vitamin D http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrit ... racle.html

[CPlus]

That's interesting - would that explain why my eczema gets worse as soon as winter comes?

Thanks,

Jonathan

[ofonorow]

That's interesting - would that explain why my eczema gets worse as soon as winter comes?

Thanks,

Jonathan

Sounds right on. You should begin taking the D3 tables and begin researching the UV/B lamps that are for reptiles in captivity - and lets us know if your problem gets worse, stays the same or goes away (my guess)